Lake Mead boat ramp to close for 2 hours Wednesday morning

National Park Service officials will close a part of Lake Mead on Wednesday morning because of rising water levels.

The park service tweeted that Hemenway Boat Ramp at Lake Mead National Recreation Area will close from 8 to 10 a.m. to replace pipe mat for boat launches in light of rising water levels.

As of Tuesday, Lake Mead sat at 1,043.42 feet, according to the the Lower Colorado River Daily Report. The lake was up 3 feet since Aug. 1.

In a news conference Monday, U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto called on the federal government to make fair cuts among the seven states that use the lake’s water.

Since 2000, Southern Nevada has reduced its water consumption by 26 percent while the valley’s population has grown by more than 750,000, according to the water authority.

Declining water levels resulted in the closure of most boat ramps before summer began. As of May, Hemenway Harbor was the last available launch ramp the Lake Mead.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.